Day in the Life 2037

We asked scientists, auto executives, and forecasters what they thought a typical day in the life of a middleclass American would look like 15 years from now. How will they get around and go about their day? How much of what we read about today could soon be reality? Created out of those discussions, this essay explores what the not so distant future—automotive and otherwise—could be ...

- By Alisa Priddle

Joe Average finally opened his eyes. His smart house had been trying to wake him for the past 10 minutes: The window shades had opened on cue, and the ambient lighting had been getting brighter to combat the gloomy day outside. He could hear the morning news, the broadcast projected onto the mirror in his bathroom. He thought he heard a faint electric whine coming from outside and the thump of a parcel being dropped off by a delivery drone.

It had stormed overnight. Joe wondered if his electric pickup in the garage was getting its power from the house, or had the power gone out at some point and the truck was now acting as a generator to keep electricity flowing to his electronics? Either way, it's nice to never have to experience an outage again.

Alexa confirmed the power had not gone out. Both EVs, the truck and crossover, were fully charged-the house and cars and grid all talk to each other to ascertain the best time for the vehicles to charge. Home is still the cheapest option, but once in a while a notification says a quick top-off of electrons at Joe's favorite coffee bar is the better choice. He can add meaningful range in the time it takes to get his caffeine hit.